


memento

by poketa



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-15 23:44:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12331203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poketa/pseuds/poketa
Summary: The rain outside seems to recede a little the intensity.Carmilla shakes her head, instantly dropping the attitude and quietening “You won't believe me, anyway” she repeats again“Try me” Laura replies already tired of playing this game “If anything you win another cocoa out of this, my treat” she says with a sigh.





	memento

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! here have a little one-shot while I work out the next chapter of My roommate is a goddamn ghost!  
> Enjoy this mess!
> 
> Disclaimer: English is my second language, I hate myself.

The night starts like any other, the smell of cookies drifting through the kitchen as Laura bakes the last batch of the day, one that surely will go home with her.

 Her apron is dirty with dough, her blue jeans have more flour than the floor and when she cleans her hands on a towel, everything feels just right.

 Ella Fitzgerald is playing softly in the kitchen from the little radio that she bought a few months ago in a little store down the street, she can hear the rain pouring down outside and the scene warms her heart and entire soul.

 Times like now are her favourite because it transports her to simpler times with her mother in the kitchen, back in her old house, baking cookies when it would rain, while singing along to their favourite music. And since it would rain most days of the week, they had quite a bond based over their baking and singing.

 Truly good times.

 However, the sweet memory is quickly ripped away from Laura's mind as she hears a hurried knocking in the door.

 Who would be knocking if the sign is so obviously put in the side of “closed”? But then she asks herself the real question, _who would be knocking at this hour in this weather?_

 Maybe a murderer

A totally dangerous and completely lethal murderer could be outside waiting for her to open the door and then attack.

  _Okay, that’s pretty extreme_ , Laura rationalizes, _why would a murderer knock in the door? There is no way, in this world or in Hogwarts for someone to be outside in-_

 “Fuck! Is there anyone in there?!” The person outside yells.

 Throwing caution and all the previous theories to the mental trash can, Laura runs from the kitchen to the front door of the store to see a drenched woman in all black just outside the glass door looking like the rain caught her out of guard.

 The blonde instantly unlocks the door and doesn’t second-guess the idea before ushering the woman inside, closing the door and going instantly to the back of the store to get a blanket.

 When she returns the woman is still shaking in the same spot Laura left her but her boots are no longer in her feet but in one of the tables.

  _Which is utterly gross and rude considering how muddy they are_ but Laura let it slide, considering that the store is closed and it’s just a table, one that she can easily clean off with a wet cloth before going home.

 “Take this” Laura says passing the warm blanket to the woman who accepts it with a short nod, not really looking at her but inspecting the store with her very dark eyes.

  _She looks like a wet cat,_ Laura thinks to herself.

 “Thanks” the reply comes quietly “this place is... _nice_ ”

 Then Laura watches as the woman unzips her jacket and then proceeds to take it off in one single motion, realizing that she shouldn’t stare, Laura moves her eyes elsewhere.

 “Thanks! It's all mine- _uhm_ \- would you like something warm? perhaps, a hot drink?” Laura asks looking down at her brown shoes before nodding to herself when the woman hums a “yes”.

 She quickly moves behind the counter and presses a few buttons on the machine to start it “Is cocoa alright? I already cleaned the coffee part of the machine and the only part still warm is the cocoa one since I always get one before going home” Laura rants still working on the knobs, once it's done she turns around to see the woman cocooned in the blanket and look much more coloured now.

 Her dark hair is still damp but her cheeks are rosy with the warm inside the room and Laura lets out a sigh, relieved that this women recuperated some colour.

 “Yeah” the dark haired woman accepts, making Laura snap back in reality. “Anything warm, would be okay”

“Two mugs of cocoa in the way!” the blonde singsongs turning around and proceeding to do exactly that but not letting her mouth rest before asking “ _So_ -what were you doing outside in this weather? It's not really walking weather by any means”

 Laura hears the sound of a chair being dragged when she is done with the first mug and so, she continues “Even though the rain in this town are like the chocolate chips on my cookies, more than expected and just as enjoyed, no one walks outside in this kind of weather” she jokes, moving back in the kitchen to retrieve a few of them and just as quickly, Laura moves back to the table with the two mugs in hand and the plate.

The dark haired woman chuckles “It mustn't be pretty obvious how I’m not from here” taking one cookie and biting instantly down on it, she exclaims with surprise “ _Damn_ , this is good”

“The best in town” Laura admits with smugness, taking one and biting down into it as well with pride. “So- not from here huh? from where then?”

The woman smirks back at her before drinking from her mug. She clears her throat before speaking again, in a slightly more cautious voice “Really far” Laura sips a little on her cocoa while the woman continues on explaining herself in the same quiet voice “Actually, you are the reason why I came here”

“Me? F-f-for me?” Laura asks aghast, putting down her mug and watching intently the woman in front of her. “Why?” Laura nods to herself before voicing “Now, that I think about it, I don’t really remember seeing you in my store before” she watches as the woman closes her eyes at the words “or ever in my life, if I’m being honest” her heart beats a little faster when she sees the woman in front of her close her eyes a little more tighter and she wonders _who the hell is this woman and why is she looking for her_ before asking “How do you know me?”

“You won’t believe it if I tell you” The woman  confesses, moving her head slowly.

Laura feels an odd tingle in her body with those words.

“Try me” she challenges back.

The air feels tense around the store and Laura feels like whatever will come out of this stranger's mouth will surprise her.

She isn't wrong.

At all.

“My name is Carmilla” the dark haired woman starts, holding her gaze with an intensity that leaves Laura lost for words “Carmilla Karnstein, and it’s true, this is the first time I have entered this store and eat one of those” she laughs dryly, shaking her head but not moving her eyes away from her own “Hell, this is the first time I have seen you” her voice lowers considerably before saying “At least, in this life”

While the pouring rain seems to hit the windows outside just in the right places to make this even more dramatic.

“This life?” the blonde wonders out loud feeling another kind of chill travel her body. “What do you mean with this life?” her voice cracks and the rain seems the perfect soundtrack for what is unfolding in front of her eyes.

Carmilla considers her for a few seconds before she speaks

“Do you believe in past lives?”

The blonde gapes for a hot second before remembering herself.

“Do you?” Laura throws backs before bringing the mug to her mouth and drinking the last sip of it in one go, trying to make herself calm down with the sweet taste of it.

“Yes” Carmilla responds instantly, looking back at her with more intensity than someone has looked at her before, making goosebumps rise in her arms “I do”

The blonde coughs when the cocoa goes down the wrong pipe.

Trying to shake herself out of stupor, Laura instantly replies “Well, I don’t” she caresses her own throat and rasps “Why are you even asking this? What does that have to do with any of this?”

A dry laugh echoes in the place.

“Of course, you don't believe it” says very darkly Carmilla, unwrapping herself from the blanket. Standing up, she continues “Well, these were lovely but I’m afraid that my time has come” her hands move quickly putting the jacket on before moving to the boots “Goodbye, Laura Hollis” Carmilla says dramatically before walking away.

“How do you know my name?” Laura requests, standing up instantly, taking the bait.

Carmilla stops, looks at her and then turns around back again.

“Why bother, you won't believe it”

Laura just looks at the retreating form of the woman before snapping back in reality.

“ _Wait! don't go!_ ”

Carmilla turns around just as her hand is ready to turn the knob of the front door. Her voice is smaller than when she came into the store but somehow cuts deeper than glass when she speaks “Why not?”

“Because you have to tell me why are you here!” The baker rushes out, feeling anxious and confused but decided to hear whatever this woman has to say as ridiculous as it may be. Laura blurts out standing up from her chair “Maybe the idea of past lives may seem like something very much unbelievable for me but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to know the real reason why are you here!”

_The real reason of why are you looking for me?_

The blonde would be damned if she let this stranger go away without an explanation out of this.

“How can you even talk so fast, cupcake?” Carmilla caves, after a second making Laura blush but also frown.

_That sounds oddly familiar._

Laura watches as the woman comes back to the table, while feeling a weird vibe starting to run around her body “Debate team- It sticked after high school, kind of” she explains in a rush.

“Cute” Carmilla replies sitting down and nestling again in the blanket, this time not taking her jacket off or the boots “It suits you, _sunshine_ ”

_That sounds even more weirdly familiar._

Quickly, the blonde checks any nickname that anyone have given to her in her mind but these two stand out like sore thumbs.

Laura watches with suspicion her visit, who scoffs back at her, before taking a sip of what it’s probably a cold mug of cocoa “Stop having an aneurism over there and admit it” Carmilla says, looking pleased with herself.

The blonde gapes for a second before recovering “Those are just nicknames, no some Da Vinci Code, there must be a logical explanation to it” Laura scoffs back, trying to get a grip she breaks a cookie in the middle and eats it, out of pure frustration, already regretting her decision to let this woman stay and explain herself.

“Please” Carmilla says back just with the same attitude, half smiling “as if you didn’t feel something when I said those” she smiles sweetly, in what Laura catches fast is mocking “ _Creampuff_ ” the blonde opens her eyes wide and the woman in front of her smirks triumphantly back at her.

“Thats p-purely incidental!” Laura exclaims, slamming her hands on the table making both flinch. “Sorry”

“Just as ungraceful” Carmilla comments making Laura grit her teeth.

“ _Stop talking like that!_ ”

The woman stares at her silently and Laura shrinks in her own chair looking back with blushed cheeks. 

“and just as stubborn” Carmilla comments finally, with a raised brow. “If not more”

Laura sighs impatiently.

“Carmilla” she says the name and it tastes more familiar than anything else she has ever said before, ignoring it, the blonde tries to explain herself “If you just want to rile me up and not explain anything, please go” she lets out, pointing at her with a finger “But I won't stay here just for you to ridiculous me and make fun of me”

The rain outside seems to recede a little the intensity.

Carmilla shakes her head, instantly dropping the attitude and quietening “You won't believe me, anyway” she repeats again.

“Try me” Laura replies already tired of playing this game “If anything you win another cocoa out of this, my treat” she says with a sigh.

The baker watches as the woman in front of her, sighs deeply before searching in the pocket of her jacket for something, bringing out a picture that she offers to her.

Laura battles with herself for all of two seconds before taking it in her hands.

She turns it around and brings it closer to her eyes.

Its an old picture in black and white, that Laura notices seems from the sixties, maybe even older.

A picture with two young women, holding each other and smiling to the camera.

“Wait-...” Laura mumbles, trying to absorb every detail in front of her eyes. _White dresses. Hand holding. Flowers. Rings_ “That's- that's…”

There's a warm feeling in her stomach and slowly a headache starts to invade her head.

It's almost nostalgic how she feels and Laura can't believe it.

“People who casually look like you and me, yeah” Carmilla supplies with sarcasm, standing up and walking away, all while shaking her head fervently “oh and don't forget to read the bottom, that's the best fucking part”

Bringing it even closer to her face, Laura reads the handwritten note all while shaking her head.

_Dear, today our hands touched for the first time with the promise of a forever attached to it, may our love transcend life and may we find each other again in the other side._

_-Laura & Carmilla Karnstein. 1964 _

“Where did you got this?!” Laura requests, moving her eyes away from the smiling faces of the girls in the picture, both who look strikingly like both of them and to Carmilla, who is passing her hands through her hair and looking just as exasperated as her “This- this must be fake!” The blonde exclaims, trying to convince Carmilla.

And herself.

“Not really” The dark haired woman fires back, looking at her pointedly “I have another picture of the honeymoon in my pocket. if you really wanna check”

Laura guffaws “Then- where did you get this? Who are these women? Why they look like us?”  The baker asks, standing up and moving the picture furiously in front of her visit, almost flagging it in her “Tell me, Carmilla, because this isn't funny!”

Carmilla stares silently back at her with her head in her hands.

“ _Of course, it's not fucking funny, Laura_ ” Carmilla snaps, coming closer to her and talking in a calm rage that makes Laura feel weirdly uncomfortable “Believe me, when I say that anything would be funnier than this”

Laura opens her mouth to respond to that but nothing comes out at first.

Because her mind is somehow still occupied trying to decipher the weird feeling in her stomach that ran through her just a second ago when she saw the picture.

Frowning deeply, she asks “Then why?” after a while of silent staring, gazing back at the eyes of this woman who seems scared of being here, of having that picture, of being right here with her, Laura asks with sarcasm “Why are you searching for me then, Carmilla? To show me the photos of an old wedding and convince me to continue with whatever thing we supposedly had in our previous lives?”

The silence settles in the middle of them and, for a while, it's just their heavy breathing and the rain outside making appearance.

Until Carmilla decides to break it.

Shrugging and not looking away from Laura's eyes, she asks “Why not?” capturing Laura deeply with those dark eyes, she continues with her raspy voice “After all, we promised to find each other again after death, right?”

Carmilla extends her hand and challenges her with her gaze “Let's make a deal” her voice sounds playful but Laura can feel the serious nature of it under her skin.

Carmilla continues “If I touch your hand and you don't feel anything, ill exit this place and never come back here, let you live your life, yadda yadda”

The blonde waits for the other shoe to drop with a frown and crossed arms.

“But if there's at least a spark of something” Her visit says with deep vehemence “even the minimal reflection of a feeling in between us, you'll have to believe me”

Afraid of the outcome, Laura shakes her head “Absolutely not, this is a whole load of bullshit”

With a laugh, while sliding closer and offering her hand, Carmilla replies “Then what are you so afraid of?”

_Of it being true?_

“Its bullshit” Laura pronounces one last time, before taking the offered hand and throwing caution to hell.

And absolutely nothing happens.

Laura notices Carmilla frowning deeply at their clasped hands and chuckles before dropping her own hand “Well, that's certainly _disappointing_ ” The baker muses with a smile, turning around to walk to the kitchen, happy with the outcome of this “But I have a batch of cookies to take home, so if you _excuse me_ -”

“ _Wait!_ ”

Turning around, Laura scrunches her face up at the woman.

“What about a kiss?” Carmilla asks.

The blonde notices the desperate look on the face of the woman and realizes something.

_That's the face of a woman who has seem to lost everything._

She knows because once upon a time ago, the mirror would show the same expression to her.

“Why a kiss?” Laura asks with caution, taking off her apron and settling it in the table, beside her. She considers her options and asks “Do you really think that a kiss will work?”

Carmilla shrugs feigning nonchalance.

“Perhaps, if anything you get a kiss out of it” Her voice has settled down to the same normal tone it had and Laura shakes her head at the fast recovery “A really nice kiss, if you will”

Weighing her options, Laura talks herself to accept it.

If anything she will get a kiss from a really hot stranger...If not… _who knows?_

Laura blames the hour, the weather, the taste of the cocoa and Carmilla for it.

Turning swiftly around, she walks up to the still wet stranger in black clothes and muses with fake security.

“You look like a wet cat” 

And closes her eyes, kissing her softly, instantly feeling the sweet release of a thunder in her mind.

 Fastly, her head fills with picture after picture of memories and past, and Laura gasps in pain, putting her open palms in the cheeks of Carmilla's face, moving herself instantly away but still keeping their closeness and foreheads together.

 “ _Carmilla_ ” she gasps quietly, her heart pounding in her ears, her blood rushing through her body in an ardour, feeling every part of herself accepting the new information.

  _“I knew it”_ Laura hears and she opens her eyes slowly to find Carmilla watching her with an expression of awe, she sounds breathless and Laura can help but hug her tightly, feeling all at once hitting her. “I knew it was you”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are always welcome!  
> if not then fight me.


End file.
